Karoly Palaga in Gympie court for growing marijuana

A man tried to convince a court he’d spent $150,000 on a hydroponic system at his Sunshine Coast hinterland property to produce cannabis oil, and that his mother was carrying $200,000 in cash because she’d just sold her house.

A man who claimed he spent $150,000 on a sophisticated hydroponic system to produce cannabis oil has been jailed for more than a year after the judge dismissed his defence as “dishonest” and “implausible”.

Karoly Palaga, 57, from Wamuran in the Moreton Bay region, was arrested on his Pomona property in 2021 after it was searched by police, who also searched a property at Nahrunda owned by his ex-partner Kristina Dereviankina.

At least $78,000 worth of marijuana was found at Pomona, including a hydroponic system in a bedroom and other plants inside two large shipping containers powered by diesel generators.

Police also found 22kg of marijuana growing in three shipping containers at Dereviankina’s Nahrunda property.

Karoly Palaga (right) is escorted from Gympie District Court on Tuesday August 22, 2023, after pleading guilty to two counts of producing dangerous drugs in excess of 500g, and one count of possessing items used in relation to drugs.

Gympie District Court heard on August 22, that one of those containers and a diesel generator were bought through Palaga’s machine operator business, a decision he said was for GST benefit.

His DNA was found on unspecified electrical equipment at Dereviankina’s property, but he told the court his only involvement was to buy the equipment.

Palaga claimed in court he did not know when ordering the items what Dereviankina was going to use them for, but when he found out, he did not cancel the order.

Dereviankina, 34, was placed on two years’ probation in February 2023, after pleading guilty to producing and possessing cannabis. No conviction was recorded.

Palaga’s sentencing was held separately, with the 57-year-old contesting facts around more than $200,000 cash found by officers on his mother during their search of his home in 2021.

He claimed the money belonged to his parents, who accumulated it by selling their property in Hungary before emigrating to Australia. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of his parents.

Judge Glen Cash ultimately dismissed the claims as “implausible”.

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Gympie District Court Judge Glen Cash rejected Karoly Palaga’s claims he intended to establish a legal marijuana oil business, saying a previous conviction and jail term in 2000 for growing the drug would have prevented him from being allowed.

However, while the presence of that much money was “incredibly suspicious” Judge Cash could not find the cash was the result of selling the drug.

It was “utterly incomprehensible” Palaga could believe he would ever be allowed to legally produce cannabis oil given his five-year imprisonment in 2000 for growing the drug in South Australia.

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Judge Cash said Palaga had clearly established his new system “with the intention of recouping that ($150,000) investment” and the diesel generators were “more probably than not” bought to keep his activities from drawing attention through a spike in electricity use.

No evidence of sales was tendered to the courts, and it was accepted the police had arrested Palaga before his own plants, grown over a six month period from July to December 2021, were mature enough to be put on the market.

Palaga pleaded guilty to two counts of producing a dangerous drug in excess of 500g, and possessing things used in the course of producing that drug.

He was sentenced to three years’ jail, with at least 15 months to be served.

He is scheduled to be released on parole on November 22, 2024.

Originally published as Karoly Palaga in Gympie court for growing marijuana